Zach has been a leadership coach, trainer, facilitator and presenter for more than a decade. During this time, he has led and consulted with organizations in multiple sectors. Zach’s research, work, and presentations incorporate his deep interests in transformational leadership, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, organizational culture and climate, and systems thinking. He is a certified emotional intelligence leadership coach/consultant for leaders of all sectors as well as a trained mindfulness teacher. Zach lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, two daughters and community of friends.
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Small Mindful Moments Matter
Published 5 days ago • 6 min read
Zach Taylor
September
The Mindful Leader in You: Inspiring growth in yourself and those around you.
I was talking with a friend the other day, sharing ideas about how to live a more mindful and less reactive life. He confided in me that for a long time, he’s been a bit suspicious of “breathwork” or small life-hacks as a way of creating real transformation and cultivating consistent peace in his life.
I totally get it. The ubiquitous life-hack podcasts, seminars, newsletters (cough), webinars, and wellness books seem to have created a trend that says, “just do all of these 100 things daily and you’ll live to be 120 and have the life that you’ve always dreamed of.” I think he’s not alone in wanting something deeper sometimes.
But then we talked about the value of the breathwork we had just practiced. We decided in the end that maybe it’s a combination of larger, deeper paradigmatic and spiritual shifts AND small daily routines that help us find daily peace. What value, then, do small mindful practices have on our ability to be mindful leaders?
Here’s an analogy that might help. Our body is made up of muscles and connective tissues (fascia) that help us go about our day. We lift things, we move around, we sit, type, text, we cook and eat, we drive. Some of us hold babies or kids, some dig and build, some use their bodies to heal and serve others, and some use their bodies to create. The health of our muscles and fascia is essential to many of the daily things we do. For us to sustain this work, it makes sense to pay attention to our bodies daily so that we can perform optimally in our day-to-day. Some folks need profound health shifts, but most of us just need daily maintenance to function optimally.
The same goes for our mindfulness work. I'm not just talking about the gray matter that makes up our brains - but our nervous system, our adrenals, our cortisol, our heartfulness, our centeredness, even our consciousness - all the things combined that dictate our ability to act mindfully throughout our day. Just as it’s important for us to stretch and work out our bodies each day, as well as pay attention to our posture and how we hold ourselves, it’s also important to bring awareness to our mindfulness practices throughout the day. The little actions matter and add up toward optimal health and functioning in mindful leadership.
"As a mindful leader, your ability to be consistent in your practice will positively affect those with whom you work and ultimately the culture of your workplace in general."
Here are some small actions you can do daily to help you bring more mindfulness to your day.
Have a morning routine. Just as it helps to activate our muscles with some morning stretching and/or exercises, we can also activate our calming mechanisms so that they are more available to us throughout the day.
Pay attention to the little beautiful sights and sounds within the morning routine you already have. I use a gooseneck tea kettle to pour the water over my morning Maté. I like to bring my attention to the beautiful arch of the water as it pours into the mug. I listen to the sound it makes and the way it reflects the light. I pour it slowly and carefully. It offers me a mindful practice that fits into a full morning before I start making lunches and getting the kids out the door.
Do some mindful breathwork: Yep, there it is. There’s really no substitute. You’re priming your centeredness for the day by doing this. It’s like sharpening your pencil or warming up your car. Your mindful leadership mechanisms need a daily prep so they're primed and ready to take on the day. Here are some breathwork ideas that may work for you.
(Note: I don't receive sponsorship payment or remuneration of any kind from the above links. They are just there to help.)
Practice small mindful acts throughout the day. Just as it helps our bodies to get up out of our seats and stand or walk throughout the day, it also helps us to exercise the calming mechanisms throughout the day.
Mindful Walking: I try to do this just about every time I walk from my dest to the bathroom or kitchen throughout the day: Slow your walk just slightly, notice the sensations on the bottom of your feet - how the pressure shifts and changes with every step. This helps to take your mind out of the constant "monkey-brain” activity and into something that offers more intentional awareness.
Physiological Sigh: If you feel overwhelmed or anxious, there’s no better quick fix. Here's what to do. Breathe in through your nose until your lungs are completely full, then force a quick sniff in through your nose to really inflate every pocket of your lungs. Then breathe slowly out through your mouth, emptying all your breath and squeezing your diaphragm at the end. Do this three times and then let your breath come to a natural rhythm. It’s remarkable how well it works. Here’s the research that supports this approach.
Connect to the sun: Go outside and feel the sun on your face. If the sun isn’t out, go outside and look upward anyway. I do this daily. It helps.
Body scan to unclench. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been kind of stressed in the middle of the day, and when I did a quick body scan, I realized my shoulders were in pain because they were up at my ears, my jaw was in pain because I was clenching so hard a pitbull would be impressed, and my back was sore because I was holding by stomach in awkwardly (why do I do that?...I don’t know). Just taking a deep breath and releasing these things is calming in itself.
Anchor Objects: Finally, collect and/or identify anchor objects that can remind you to calm yourself. Here are some examples.
I have a shiny stone at my desk at home that I like to fidget with when I’m on virtual calls. It has the word “Balance” on it. I know this sounds cheesy, but it works as a reminder to check in with myself.
At my desk at my office, I have a really great stress ball that I pick up in moments of overwhelm. It’s not only the fantastic squishyness that helps, but it also reminds me to pay attention to my stress level because it’s there just for that reason.
I’ve seen people put stones or artwork, or tiles on their desk or dashboard in their car for this reason. It helps if the object is tactile and can fit into your hand. Paper quotes and the like on computer or wall tend to just blend into the background.
I also use the gear shift on my car as an anchor for mindfulness. When I pull into my home driveway, getting ready to greet my family, I put my hand on the gear shift and put it into “Park.” I let my hand linger there, and it reminds me to take a deep breath or two and center myself so I can be present and bring my best self to my family after a long day at work. This can also help as I pull into my parking space at work if I know I have an intense day ahead of me.
There are plenty of other ideas on this subject, including nighttime routines, but I think this is good for now... Feel free to reply and let me know your ideas for finding calm throughout the day. I’ll post them in a subsequent newsletter.
May we all create moments of calm each and every day.
Best,
Zach
P.S. Please consider becoming a member of the Mindful Leader in You community. Memberships help me sustain the time it takes to write and research for this newsletter. Members will also receive access to bonus content and discounts to upcoming courses and group coaching/communities of practice.
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Zach is a mindful leadership coach, trainer, and certified systems thinking advanced facilitator.He is also the lead consultant at The Center for Transforming Education in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Zach has been a leadership coach, trainer, facilitator and presenter for more than a decade. During this time, he has led and consulted with organizations in multiple sectors. Zach’s research, work, and presentations incorporate his deep interests in transformational leadership, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, organizational culture and climate, and systems thinking. He is a certified emotional intelligence leadership coach/consultant for leaders of all sectors as well as a trained mindfulness teacher. Zach lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, two daughters and community of friends.
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